Mark Godfrey is an Irish journalist covering the agriculture and fisheries sectors in Asia, with a focus on China. Proficient in Mandarin, he has frequently traveled across China's fisheries and aquaculture regions and learned the inner workings of China's corporate world during a nearly three-year stint at the Financial Times' “China Confidential” publication. He has also reported widely across Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union. He has educational certificates in agriculture and food science, as well as Mandarin.
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The Chinese locations of Singapore-based seafood restaurant chain Jumbo Seafood have continued to struggle financially, leading the company to shift plans for growth back to its domestic market of Southeast Asia.
According to the chain’s most recent financial results, which cover the full year ending 30 September 2024, Jumbo Seafood Group’s revenues from its mainland China operations fell by 27.6 percent year over year, dropping by
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World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations on ending subsidies that lead to overcapacity and overfishing around the globe – the text of which is referred to as Fish 2 – may not recommence in earnest until 2026, according to experts analyzing the discussions in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The next important decision point looks like it will be in Cameroon in 2026,” Oceana Senior Analyst Daniel Skerritt said. “I
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A representative of Ireland’s inshore fishing industry has accused retailers in the country of using misleading advertising on products that contain imported seafood, undermining Irish fishers’ incomes and livelihoods in the process.
Michael Desmond, the chair of the Cahersiveen, Ireland-based National Inshore Fishermen's Association (NIFA), said that products in Irish grocery stores contain misleading images that make consumers
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Chinese squid-fishing companies have been stepping up efforts to secure a bigger share of the E.U. market.
Multiple Chinese companies, along with officials from municipal governments, said that they can sell more squid to the E.U. by getting more Chinese vessels to meet requirements for E.U. import registration. The requirements would also would elicit the benefits of catching more squid, achieving higher prices for it, and modernizing the
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China’s distant-water fishing companies have been suffering from “high cost pressures and operating difficulties,” according to a new document published by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Due to these challenges, the ministry has recommended a wide-ranging support package to bolster the ailing sector.
Titled “Notice on Increasing Efforts to Help Distant-Water Fishing Enterprises,” the document
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Chinese aquaculture and feed mill representatives recently visited U.S. soybean farms and aquaculture facilities as part of a visit organized by the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) to establish mutually beneficial business connections.
The USSEC, which has long encouraged the Chinese aquaculture industry to use U.S.-grown soy in its operations, took the visiting group to four aquaculture facilities that employ recirculating aquaculture
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Hong Kong-based seafood importing and distribution firm Ocean One Holding recently reported disappointing financial results for the middle two quarters of 2024, underlining the continued decline of Hong Kong as a major center for imported seafood.
According to an official filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, Ocean One reported that its revenue fell 16.5 percent to HKD 201 million (USD 25.8 million, EUR 25.1 million) for the six months
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Iranian government official Mohammed-Ali Javadi said China is ready to buy large volumes of Iranian seafood, following a recent delegation he led that consisted of Iranian seafood executives and officials visiting major Chinese seafood-processing firms Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products and Guangdong Evergreen Corporation.
Javadi said that Chinese firms have invested in Middle Eastern and North African seafood operations before, and had seen
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Kylie Petherick is the CFO of Australian tuna-farming company Stehr Group, which has seen demand for its products soar in China recently.
Established in 1972, the family-owned Stehr Group specializes in the offshore ranching and grow-out of southern bluefin tuna from its base in Port Lincoln, South Australia.
In July, Stehr signed an agreement with seafood distributor Shanghai Xinjiangyang Supply Chain Management, making the latter the
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